HACKENSACK – Alementary Brewing Co., which opened in 2016, planned to double its production by February, but the federal government shutdown has prevented the company from acquiring the necessary permits to open.

Michael Roosevelt and Blake Crawford, the married co-owners, planned to open a second production facility across the street from their Voorhis Lane brewery. That move, they said, would quadruple beer production, double their employee base and expand distribution of their North Jersey brews across state lines.

But those plans are currently on hold.

With the federal government shutdown entering its third week, the federal agency that would issue Alementary the necessary permits for their expansion plans has been deemed non-essential and closed.

“The term non-essential is funny,” Crawford said. “Because it’s only nonessential if your business doesn’t depend completely on them working.”

The small business, which employs eight full-time employees and several part-time bar staff, has found itself in limbo. It will remain so until the government reopens.

Michael Roosevelt (left) and Blake Crawford (middle), co-owners of The Alementary Brewing Co., and Congressman Josh Gottheimer talk with press about how the government shutdown affects small businesses at the company's site in Hackensack on Mon., Jan. 7, 2019.(Photo: Melanie Anzidei/NorthJersey.com)

The co-owners of the brewery on Monday joined Congressman Josh Gottheimer at their 13,000-square-foot brewery in Hackensack to address a crowd of reporters about the government shutdown. Inside the facility, sits recently-purchased equipment, valued at approximately $1 million, that would have helped their business expand.

“These steel vats you see behind me will quadruple Alementary’s brewing capacities and will open up new opportunities for the business and help create new jobs, not just here, but across New Jersey,” Gottheimer said.

The partial federal government shutdown forced the Alcohol, Tobacco and Trade Bureau to close and Alementary's $1 million in equipoment is stting idle, Gottheimer said.

Business owners could submit permits to the trade bureau online, a statement on its website read, but the submissions will not be reviewed or approved until government shutdown is over.

It was unclear how long the government shutdown, which has stymied activity across the country, could go. On Monday, President Trump tweeted that he will address the country at Tuesday evening The New York Times reported that Trump plans to address the government shutdown during that prime-time slot.

“To let the shutdown go on for months or years, as some have said, is to look at business owners like Mike or Blake and tell them to pour their beer out on the street,” Gottheimer said.

Until the shutdown ends, Roosevelt and Crawford will have to pay interest on loans they secured to help grow their business. They will also have to pay rent for a building they cannot use.

The brewery's inability to expand comes at a time when the state’s craft brewery scene has experienced unprecedented growth. Since 2015, the state has seen a 43 percent growth in its craft beer industry, according to research company C + R. The state has seen more growth than any other state – with the exception of Kentucky, which also grew by 43 percent.

Roosevelt, who is also the treasurer of the New Jersey Brewers Association, said there are a number of breweries in planning right now – and their openings are in limbo because of the shutdown. That puts a significant strain on owners who are investing in a business that has yet to make money, he said.

“You’ve got a number of breweries in planning that have really no good sense of when they’re going to be able to open their doors and start digging in to recoup their investment,” Roosevelt said. “Which puts a strain on them, but also puts a strain on the local community that now has a business that everyone is anxiously waiting for."

The Hackensack-based brewer currently self-distributes throughout Northern New Jersey. But, it planned to aggressively expand its distribution to the Southern New York area and possibly South Jersey. To do so, the company would likely contract third-party distributors.

But, Crawford said, the brewery could not "in good faith" sign a contract f they are unsure when they will be able to produce beer in their second facility. Part of the distribution plan, he added, also included redoing the artwork on their labels – and that requires approvals through the trade bureau, too.

“There’s two aspects to it. One, there’s the week-in and week-out [issues]. Rent is due. The loan check is due. Utilities have to get paid,” Crawford said. “But the flip-side of it is, just lost opportunity costs that are immeasurable.”

Alementary hoped to open its second facility by February. Doing so would have allowed the company to double its staff, the company said.

“These are highly skilled manufacturing jobs for the most part that are not exactly growing on trees these days," Roosevelt said. "I can’t even begin to consider hiring additional production staff until I know I have a date that this can be opened.”